Unexpected Offer
by Animorphs007
Summary: Four months after Hanged Man and Sarah fled the Fabricated World, HM wants to go back to the gallery to save Lady in Blue. Will he get the original survivors of the gallery to help him enter the Fabricated World? Or will the man with the black rose get to Lady first? This is the sequel to Unexpected Alliance.
1. Chapter 1

**Usually when I read a sequel, I find it not as great as the original. This might be another case of the not-so-great, but I left the previous story at a cliffhanger in case readers wanted more. In answer to the readers who want more, here it is. If you are confused, you probably haven't read the first story. Here's a link to the first chapter of Unexpected Alliance. s/9290790/1/Unexpected-Alliance**

**I don't own Ib or the Mama Llama books**

Unexpected Offer: Chapter 1

Sarah skipped to the bus cheerfully after the final bell of school rang. Her kindergarten teacher had praised her for reading a _Mama Llama_ book aloud without needing too much help and she couldn't wait to tell her mommy.

But then she remembered that Mommy wouldn't be at home until dinner time. She had lots of work to do, so she would be coming home late for the next few days. But Sarah wouldn't be alone. The man who lived next door would be babysitting her until Mommy returned.

Sarah got off the bus at her stop and walked the short distance home. Her neighbor was waiting for her at the doorstep.

Her next door neighbor had moved into his house 4 months ago, a few weeks after Sarah's visit to the art gallery. He looked oddly familiar, but Sarah knew that she'd never met him before.

He was a young man with messy brown hair and coal black eyes. He wore a jean jacket over his long sleeved grey shirt. He also wore tattered jeans and running shoes.

He stood when Sarah approached, giving her a friendly smile. "Hi Sarah. It's good to see you again."

Sarah folded her hands behind her back shyly before answering, "Um, hi Mr…?"

"You can call me HM." The man watched for her reaction. When she showed no recognition he opened the door, hiding his disappointment in a small smile. "After you, little lady."

Sarah giggled and lead the way into her house. She brought HM to the living room, where she usually spent her after-school time doing homework, watching TV, and playing.

HM was a very helpful babysitter. He didn't overwhelm her, but he also didn't neglect her. Even so, while he was helping her with a puzzle, he seemed to be lost in thought.

"Can you read a _Mama Llama_ book?" Sarah asked when they finished the puzzle.

HM's cheeks reddened in embarrassment, "I'm sorry Sarah, but I don't know how to read."

The little girl gave a puzzled frown. She didn't know that it was possible for an adult to not know how to read. But she also had the feeling that she had been in this situation before.

"Then I'll read it for you." Sarah found one of her books and sat next to HM. She read the book out loud to the best of her ability.

HM listened patiently as she read, even when she struggled with a word. When she was done, he gave her a thumbs up. "That was really nice. You can read well."

"Thanks!" Sarah flushed with pride at the compliment.

"Could you read something for me?" HM reached into his pocket for a piece of paper.

"I can try…" Sarah accepted the paper he handed to her. It was a page torn from a book. On it was a familiar picture of a lady with brown straight hair and blue eyes.

"'Lady in Blue'" Sarah said slowly. She stared at the familiar page. "Have I seen this somewhere before?"

"Please try to remember, Sarah. I've shown you this page before a long time ago." HM watched her with a desperate expression on his face.

Sarah thought as hard as she could. She recalled that someone showed her the page before, but she didn't know when and where.

"Remember the gallery we traveled through. We met Lady in Blue and the man with the black rose. There were hands that shot out of the wall and a talking caterpillar. Please remember!"

Sarah listened to him as she thought. What he said didn't make sense, but somehow it sounded familiar. She remembered a dream she had a long time ago.

"Were there roses and monsters?" she asked.

"Y-yes!" HM's eyes lit up hopefully.

As Sarah stared at the picture, her memories flowed back to her. What she had thought to be a dream was in fact reality. "I thought you and Lady stayed in the gallery."

"She pushed me out. I didn't really have a choice in the matter."

"So that means Lady is alone."

"No. The man with the black rose is there with her." HM frowned in worry. He didn't like thinking of how frightened she must be with that guy.

"He was scary and mean." Sarah said.

"That's the reason why I wanted you to remember. It was scary to be there alone, but with him there it would be a nightmare. I have to get Lady out."

"Okay, but what can I do?"

"I don't know yet. We're going to need help, though. She can't leave if someone doesn't take her place."

"That sounds like it's going to be hard." Sarah complained as she handed back the torn page.

"Don't worry too much, Sarah. I don't plan to bring you to that place." HM assured her.

Sarah smiled, but she didn't feel happy. "I won't be helpful if I'm here."

"You will be safe though."

-With Lady-

Lady in Blue placed her violet rose in the vase she found on a low table. Petals grew on the rose until there was a total of 7 on her stalk. She mentally noted that there was no more water in the vase as she placed the rose in her hair.

She turned back to the hallway she was in. The hallway seemed to surround a room, but the walls were too strong for her to break. She had been there for a long time.

She once tried to go down the hallway beyond the part surrounding the room, but the hall got narrower and darker until she almost got her frame stuck. It seemed hopeless to escape.

The creak of a door opening startled Lady out of her thoughts. She scrambled backwards into the table and prepared herself for the worst. When a headless statue turned the corner and stumbled her way with an angry snarl, Lady dashed at top speed in the opposite direction.

She was glad it was only a statue and not the man with the black rose. She could easily manipulate the creature behind her if she played her cards right.

Lady paused in her crawling outside the first door she came to. She dodged the statue's grasp, but the statue didn't run into the door with as much force as she hoped it would. She crawled away with it chasing after her.

"Come on, dear! Is that really all you got?" Lady called to the statue. "You gotta be quicker if you want my rose."

The statue roared and increased its speed. Lady led the statue in a circle and stopped again in front of the door. When the statue went to tackle her, she dodged, causing it to smash into the door with enough force to bust it down.

Lady crawled over the fallen statue and hurried down the hallway of the dark gallery.

-With Sarah-

Sarah looked up from her math work when the door to the hallway opened. The fourth graders who came regularly to help the kindergarteners entered the room, much to the delight of the younger kids. The kindergarteners claimed the fourth graders and started including them in their games.

One fourth grader didn't get pulled into the play. She had straight brown hair that fell past her shoulders and ruby red eyes. She was observing the classroom until Sarah waved her over to her table with a desperate look.

"Do you know math?" Sarah asked when the girl came over. The girl nodded. "Can you help me with this?"

"Sure." the older girl said in a soft voice. She sat in an empty seat next to Sarah and assisted her with the addition problems. It didn't take long to figure out why this math work was so hard for Sarah.

"Two plus four doesn't make twenty four…" the older girl pointed out.

"How do you solve it then?" Sarah glared at the problem in frustration.

The older girl took a red crayon and drew two circular shapes. "Two red," she said before drawing four circular shapes in blue crayon. "Four blue. If you add these together, do you get twenty four?"

Sarah hesitated then counted the shapes. "Is the answer six?" she asked.

The older girl nodded. "Thanks for helping me. My name's Sarah."

"I'm Ib."

"So Ib… will you draw with me when I'm done with this?"

"Sure."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! Here's a new chapter of Unexpected Offer! Yay!**

**I don't own Ib!**

Unexpected Offer: Chapter 2

Lady practically flew down the hallway in terror. As she passed each door, they would burst open and out poured headless statues and Ladies of Color. She was starting to get tired from crawling at top speed, but if she slowed down her rose would be torn by the eager hands.

"You can't run forever Lady." a cold, frightening voice called.

A shiver went down Lady's spine. The man with the black rose finally found her. Lady continued to crawl at a fast pace since there wasn't much else she could do.

With statues and ladies at her frame, she scrambled down the hallway until she reached a door that was cracked open. Lady dove for it and pushed it open, closing it behind her when she shot through.

The room she entered was pitch black. Lady couldn't see anything as she caught her breath, but she could hear footsteps approach from within the darkness. Pure terror filled her at the sound, for she knew it could only be one person making that sound.

She gave a squeal of protest when her rose was ripped out of her hand. A voice whispered maliciously in her ear, "I found you, Lady in Blue."

HM's eyes fluttered open anxiously. He sat up on the couch, rubbing at his head to will away the nightmare. Even thinking of the Fabricated World made him feel worry and guilt for his friend.

He knew that he would have to return there soon. He had to save her from the terrors of the gallery and from the man with the black rose. That place was dangerous for a lady with no legs.

HM pulled the worn page out of his pocket and smoothed out the wrinkles with care. "Lady." he murmured. He missed his first friend so much. He remembered the times she would read to him. He remembered how upset she was when he left her to get his battered rose. He remembered how her eyes filled with desire at Sarah's description of Outside.

HM's time in the Fabricated World felt like a dream to him, but he knew he could never forget again. How could he forget when Lady sacrificed her safety for his freedom?

A buzzing sound coming from the kitchen interrupted him from his thoughts. He stumbled sleepily from the couch to the alarm in the kitchen.

In the few months HM had been Outside, he learned how to tell time and do simple math problems. He couldn't grasp reading yet, but the simple math was very useful to him. Because he couldn't write himself notes, he had to settle for setting time alarms and making quick drawings.

When HM deactivated the alarm, he glanced at the drawing of a pink rose. It was time to go to Sarah's house to babysit. He folded the page carefully and placed it in his pocket before leaving the house.

He walked across the lawns to Sarah's house. Using the key under the mat, he let himself in. A few minutes later, Sarah came running into the house. "HM! HM!"

"I'm here! I'm here!" he responded with equal enthusiasm.

"Guess what." Sarah bounced onto the spot on the couch beside him.

"What?" HM asked.

"I drew a picture for you. A big girl helped me make it." Sarah swung her backpack in front of her as she talked and produced a paper to HM. It had a drawing of a little girl with blonde pigtails standing between a woman in a blue dress with long brown hair and a man in grey with messy brown hair. All three people were smiling happily.

"This is really nice Sarah. Is this Lady with legs?" HM pointed to the limbs for Sarah to see.

Sarah nodded excitedly. "Yeah! I felt bad for her because she can't open doors and I think she'd look less scary if she could walk…"

Silence fell over them as they tried to imagine Lady with legs instead of a frame. She would be able to walk, dance, run, or open doors as she pleased. And she wouldn't have to crawl anymore.

"I tried crawling with my hands. I got tired fast." Sarah explained.

"Well, Lady must have been used to crawling, even with that frame weighing her down." HM reasoned thoughtfully. He could recall that Lady didn't have any troubles with crawling until they encountered stairs.

HM gave an uncomfortable cough and changed the subject. "So you made this?"

"A big girl helped me. She knows a lot about art. I think I saw her at the gallery."

"Really? What's her name?"

"Ib. She's in fourth grade."

"If she went to the gallery, then there's a chance she'd been to the Fabricated World."

"So she could help us get there!"

"Hold on, Sarah. Not everyone who went to the gallery went to the Fabricated World. And if she did go, she might have forgotten about it." HM reasoned.

"I could ask her. If she remembers how to get there then she could help you find the way in." Sarah persuaded.

"I guess so. It couldn't hurt to ask." HM consented.

Sarah grinned in pleasure at being a big help to her friend. She wasn't exactly sure how she would ask the girl she knew for help, but she could worry about that when the time came.

~With Lady~

Lady blinked at the room she had entered. There were no doors, but the wall across from her was lined with curtains and cords hanging beside them.

Lady tiredly glared at the curtains, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do. She crawled to the nearest cord and pulled. The curtain next to the cord lifted, revealing a painting of a man holding a cream pie. The man smashed the pie in Lady's surprised face before the curtain fell again.

"How rude." Lady complained as she wiped the pie with her sleeve. She licked a bit of the sugary substance and smiled at the first food she tasted before moving on to the next cord.

This time when the curtain flew up, a rat skittered out of its painting to bite Lady. "Oww!" Lady smacked the rat and it landed back in its painting. A violet petal fell to the ground.

Lady was hesitant, but she bravely pulled the next cord. The curtains drew back to reveal a big painting of two hands. The hands looked like they could reach out and grab the viewer, which was what it did.

Lady didn't expect the hands to shoot out and grip her arms, but it was too late to do anything about it. She struggled even as the hands dragged her into the painting.


End file.
